Rooting your Nook Color and installing CyanogenMod is not just for geeks anymore! Follow these steps to turn your Nook Color into an awesome Android tablet!

Part 1 - Gathering all the pieces you'll need

Aside from a Nook Color, you'll need to pick up a microSD card and an appropriate adapter (like this one) so that you can plug it in to your computer. Most computers and laptops have an SDcard slot (often referred to as a Multi-card reader), but if yours doesn't, be sure to get a USB to SDCard adapter as well (like this one). USB to SDCard adapters may be a little tricky to find in stock at a local store - I've had the best luck at office supply stores like OfficeDepot and OfficeMax. Keep in mind that you'll be using the microSD card to store music, video, and pictures on, so be sure to select one that is of sufficient size (at least 1 gb). Note that an average, feature length movie (don't worry, I'll tell you just how to encode your own from a DVD below) will require about 800 Megabytes (roughly 0.8 Gigabytes) of space.

Also, the setup process seems to work best if your Nook already has at least version 1.2 of the Barnes & Noble software on it. You can find out if you are running version 1.2 by tapping the up arrow, then Settings:Device Info. If you have 1.1 or earlier, you can either update your stock Nook Color using Barnes & Noble's instructions here, or you can update any Nook Color (stock or rooted) to 1.2 by following my instructions, Restoring to Stock to the right under Wiki Pages.

Finally, make sure your Nook Color has a good charge before you get started. In fact, you might want to plug it in now while you work on the next part.

Part 2 - Downloading the software installer and preparing the microSD card

Grab your microSD card and adapter, and head over to your computer to download the following file:

These instructions assume you are using Mac OS X Leopard. If you are using another version of OS X, details may differ slightly.

Determine where the nook-cm7.1-install.zip file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. Macs usually store downloaded files in the "Downloads" folder, which is in your home folder. Firefox often saves downloads in the Desktop. Move the nook-cm7-install.zip file to your home folder and double-click on it once to extract the nook-cm7.1-install.img file from the zip file.

If you have a newer MacBook with an SDCard slot, insert your SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the slot. Otherwise, insert the SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the USB SDCard adapter you purchased, then plug that into one of the USB ports on your Mac.

Switch to the Finder and open the "Utilities" folder (Go -> Utilities)

Open "Disk Utility"

When Disk Utility opens, locate your microSD card in the panel on the left of the window. You will see two items in the list: the card itself ("Lexar" in the example below - yours will probably be different), and the volume that exists on the key ("usb_disk" in the example below - yours will probably be different). Ctrl-click on the volume ("usb_disk on the example - yours will be different) and select "Unmount"

Close the Disk Utility, and Open "Terminal" in the "Utilities" window

Type "diskutil list" in the terminal window, and look for your microSD card in the list. The detail we are looking for is which device it is ("/dev/disk2" in the example below)

Once you have determined which device it is, type in the following: "sudo dd if=nook-cm7.121-install.img of=/dev/diskX" replacing the "diskX" with the disk number from step 8. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

Locate the zip file you just downloaded, right-click on it, and choose "Extract" to extract the application from the zip file. Do the same for the nook-cm7.1-install.zip file you downloaded earlier.

Locate the W32DiskImager.exe file you extracted, and double-click to run the application

Select the nook-cm7.1-install.img file you extracted above.

Insert your microSD card with any appropriate adapters into your PC

Click on the refresh button on the right under "Device", and then select the drive letter of your microSD card

Click on the "Write" button and wait until the operation completes.

Linux

Determine where the nook-cm7.1-install.zip file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. It should be in the root of your Home folder. If not, move it there and double-click on it to unzip it.

Insert your microSD card into all appropriate adapters and plug it in to your computer. Most Linux systems will automatically mount the card.

We need to find out what disk the system assigned to the card. To do so, open up a terminal (usually under "Accessories") and type "mount" followed by the enter key. In the list of disks that appear, you should see your microSD card at the bottom, listed as "/dev/sd*1" where * is probably a,b,c,or d.

Next, unmount the microSD card by typing "umount /dev/sdX1" (replacing "X" with the letter you saw in the list on step 3)

Finally, type in "sudo dd if=nook-cm7.1-install.img of=/dev/sdX" followed by the enter key, replacing the "sdX" with "sd"+the letter you determined in step 3. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

WHEW! That was the hard part. The rest is pretty easy.

Part 3 - Updating the Nook Color to CyanogenMod

Now we'll boot the Nook Color off of the microSD card and install the software. To do this, we need to power it down, insert the microSD card, and power it back up. Hold down the power button and wait until the Nook offers you the option to shut down, then choose "OK" to shut it off. Then turn the nook over and open the "Nook" flap to insert your microSD card. Next, turn the Nook back over and hold down the power button for a few seconds (until you see the screen flash) to turn the Nook on.

OK, your Nook Color is going to boot into recovery mode, which will probably be unlike any you have ever seen. While in recovery mode, the touchscreen is not used - instead, we'll use all of the buttons on the Nook to navigate. The volume up/down buttons go up and down in the list, the "n" button selects an item, and the power button goes back to the previous menu. Follow these steps to install the update:

Press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select

Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select

Press the volume up/down buttons to select the cm_7.1.0-encore-signed.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select

Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete. Will be a few minutes

When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "Wipe data/factory reset", and press the "n" button to select. Choose "Yes" to wipe data, and wait for the process to complete. Important: You MUST wipe data on your Nook Color, or it probably will not work correctly when you restart it, which means you'll have to come back and wipe data anyway. Trust me: wipe your data.

When done, remove the microSD card and select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot. If your Nook Color is unresponsive, hold down the power button until it turns off, then power it up normally.

After a brief period, your Nook Color will boot up from CyanogenMod, and all will be right with the world. Take note of a few things:

At the bottom left corner you will find a few standard Android buttons, which are necessary to navigate. In order, they are menu, back, search, and notifications. The physical "n" button is still the home button. If you are new to Android, the menu button is of particular importance, as it is context sensitive, meaning what it shows changes depending on what you are looking at. Many new users find themselves lost and not knowing what to do next, because they forget that the menu button is there. A simple rule of thumb is this: when in doubt, try the menu button.

Swiping left and right will bring up additional "pages" or "desktops" that you can place widgets or icons on. Press and hold with your finger on any blank space to add an icon or widget. Press and hold on an existing icon or widget to remove it.

At the bottom center of the display, you will see a mini-dock with a phone, box of four smaller boxes (apps button), and a globe (web browser) The phone really doesn't do anything, since this isn't a phone, but you can replace it by press and hold, choose delete, press the apps button, and press+drag something else into its place.

Part 4 - Google Apps, settings, and stuff to do right away

OK, so your Nook Color is ready to go, but you'll need a few more things to finish the job. First, we need to connect to wireless, format your microSD card, and get the Google apps installed, especially Market, because that's where you'll go to get all the other apps. To connect to wireless:

Go to the home screen (press the "n" button) and press the menu button (far-left on the bottom left corner).

Tap "Settings" followed by "Wireless & networks", then "Wi Fi Settings" to select your wireless network. Follow the prompts to set up your connection.

Once you are connected, press the "n" button to return to the home screen.

Next, many Android apps require a microSD card to work, including the app we are about to use to install the Google applications, so you'll want to be sure you have one in your Nook at all times. The problem is, if the card you want to use is the same one that you used to install CyanogenMod, then the recovery console will appear every time you reboot your Nook. To solve this problem, we'll want to erase the microSD card. Of course, if you have another microSD card, you could insert it instead and skip these steps. But if you don't, follow these steps to proceed:

Insert the microSD card and press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook),

Tap the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and then choose "Settings".

Next tap "Storage" followed by the "Erase SD Card" at the very top (under "SD Card"). Do not choose "Erase SD Card" under the "Additional storage: /mnt/emmc" heading, just the one under the "SD Card" heading

That's it for the microSD card. Next, we'll install the Google applications:

Press the "n" button to return to the home screen

Tap on the apps button on the home screen and open ROM Manager.

Check the "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" at the top of the list and make sure that it says "Current Recovery: ClockworkMod 3.2.0.1" or greater. If it doesn't, tap "Flash ClockworkMod Recover" and select "Nook Color" in the list that appears.

Tap Download ROM, followed by Google Apps, then tap on the top-most entry in the list and tap Download.

When the download is complete, you will be presented with a "ROM Pre-Installation" prompt. Don't change anything, just tap OK.

Press OK to Reboot and Install. If prompted by SuperUser about permissions, tap "Allow". Your Nook will reboot and install the Google apps all by itself. When complete, it will reboot again. The reboot will be a little slow this time, as it will rebuild the cache.

You may be prompted with a list of Google apps. Be sure to select Market, YouTube, and any other Google apps you find interesting. If you aren't prompted, no worries, Market will be there and you can install any other apps you might want from there.

We're almost done. Now that you have all the critical apps in place, there are just a few things that you'll want to do before you start playing:

Set the unhide button: When running a full-screen app, the button bar (menu, back, search, notifications) will add a fifth button, hide (represented by a couple of down arrows). CyanogenMod's default settings make it hard to get the button bar back when you hide it, so we'll want to change them. To do so, press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook), then the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and choose "Settings". Next tap "CyanogenMod Settings" followed by "Tablet Tweaks", then "Choose unhide button". Finally, choose "Home" from the list that appears. When you are done, you can press the home button to return to the main screen.

Format your SD card: Many Android apps require a microSD card to work, so you'll want to be sure you have one in your Nook at all times. The problem is, if the card you want to use is the same one that you used to install CyanogenMod, then the recovery console will appear every time you reboot your Nook. To solve this problem, we'll want to erase the microSD card. To do this, insert the microSD card and press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook), then the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and then choose "Settings". Next press "Storage" followed by the "Erase SD Card" at the very top (under "SD Card"). Do not choose "Erase SD Card" under the "Additional storage: /mnt/emmc" heading, just the one under the "SD Card" heading.

Make the Nook stay awake when plugged in: Default settings in this build of CyanogenMod set the Nook to go to sleep when it is plugged in. This can be a problem when you have it plugged into a computer and are copying files to/from it, as sleep will interrupt the process. To fix this, press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook), then the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and then choose "Settings". Next choose "Applications", then "Development" then check the "Stay Awake" checkbox.

Install Flash Player: CyanogenMod doesn't have the latest Flash Player installed on it. Be sure to open the Market app, search for and install the Flash Player app. Once installed, Flash content on web pages and in apps should play properly.

Install the Nook app: Like the Flash player, the Nook app is essential. Go find and install from the Market app on your Nook. Once installed, run the app and log in to your Barnes & Noble account. All your books and magazines will be there.